The Future is Now

Well...hello there. Took a six year break.

How's everybody doing? Y'aight?? Yeah...we're all a little on edge right now I bet. Strange freaking times. The zombie apocalypse is upon us.

Where to begin. A few things have happened in the last six years. For one, we're no longer living on the east coast of Canada. We're back in Ontario, have been here for the last two years now.

Those wee ones you saw in the previous post? They're getting growed up. My girl is nearly 11 and my boy is nearly 8. They're still amazing and not at all interested in modelling matching sweaters anymore.



We also added a Jack Russell to the flock in 2017. His name is Sherlock Bones. My world revolves around him now. He's spoiled rotten and I don't care. He's my precious puppers and I will dote on him as much as I like.

Christmas Sweaters

Hello out there...

I hope you're all having a joyous holiday season. We're still kickin' here at the homestead. It's been a while, lots has happened, yet nothing much at the same time. The kids, they be growing. Here is a rare quiet moment of them adorned in knit wear, of my making (mostly...I had help with some finishing issues). My oldest is 5, soon to be six (yikes!!) and my little man is 2.5. I'm pretty much just tired all of the time!

The knitting...well, it happens on occasion. Not nearly as much as it once did. Who has time? Ah well...it's only temporary.

Anyhow, just popped by to wish all a Merry Merry and a Happy Happy. Perhaps we'll see more of each other in the New Year. Who knows!

Until then, stay warm...

A Blessing

I've been trying to compose this post for a while now, knowing it was coming. I think back to the post I wrote for my daughters first birthday, how concise and profound it seems to me now. I wanted to honour my son's milestone with some equal profundity.

My mind is a jumble. There is much I want to say about this past year. So much to process, mostly bittersweet feelings of letting go and moving on, of one phase giving way to another, of saying good-bye to the baby and hello to the boy, of saying good-bye to babies in my house forever and how sad, how very very sad that makes me.

His was a very worried pregnancy, borne of less naivete than a first timer. Subsequently, I had a very worried baby on my hands once he entered our realm. A serious and worried little person who didn't really seem too keen to trust these crazy people.

But he relaxed over time, and once he was able to eat what he really wanted, which was what was on our plates, and move where he wanted, which was just about everywhere, he was as happy as a clam.

He's a funny boy, a sweet boy, a shy boy, and a cuddly boy. He loves to be tossed around by his dad and snuggled close by his mom. And when he was really wee, the only two things that would make my  Grumplestilskin happy was his bouncy chair and his big sister. He still lights up like a Christmas tree when he sees her enter the room. He adores her, and she likewise. It's the most amazing thing to watch.

So for all the worry and the fear and the trepidation that was all for naught, what I was left with once I held him in my arms and rocked him to sleep night after night, was a blessing. He, my second child, calmed me down, because I had to be to make him calm. He slowed me down, because I needed to take my time with him. He made me pause and really absorb his baby-ness, because he's my last.

Which is why, every night before I lay him down to sleep, I hold him close and whisper in his ear;

'You are a blessing to me.' (To which he giggles, because the whispering tickles his ear!)

Happy Birthday my son. I love you with all of my heart.

Meanwhile, 7.5 months later...

It's been so long since I blogged that it took me a few minutes to figure out where everything was again.

So, how's it goin', eh?

It's cliche to say, but I really don't know where the last seven months have gone. I think that as fast as the first baby grows, the second baby grows that much faster, because you're too busy keeping an eye on the first and too busy talking to the first (and talking and talking and talking and TALKING! The talking never stops!!!) and too busy trying to keep up with your house that OMG, gets buried under clutter that much faster and before you know it, this second little bundle of joy has teeth and is feeding himself and babbling and you just sit and wonder how exactly is all happened.

I think about blogging a lot. But the crafting and the knitting have pretty much gone by the wayside. It's not that there isn't enough time. There are certainly a few hours every evening where I could plod along with this project or that. The real problem is that I just don't care. I'm tired. I'm spent. I just want some peace and quiet. The thought of staring blankly off into space is oftentimes more appealing than plowing through yet another pair of socks. Which I already have a drawer full of.

Not to say it doesn't happen. I knit a few things as gifts this year, and a few things for Mister Man for when he's a little older. But Miss A is still staunchly anti-knitwear so that kinda sucks the joy and the purpose out of the craft. Larger wearable items for myself just aren't in the budget. Nothing seems to be in the budget anymore except food. When in the hell did groceries get so damned expensive? I'm sure I could save a bundle if I just eliminated frivolous items from the list, like fresh produce and dairy products.

So more often than not, I find myself wanting to mommy blog. About the joys and, lets be honest, the frustrations. But I dunno...is it fair to the kids? To have a permanent record of what should be an otherwise private childhood?

I miss the blog, blogging. It felt like a conversation. Which are hard to come by these days, cooped up alone a lot of the time, just me and my mini-me's. Miss A is an exceptional conversationalist for one so wee, although the conversations tend to revolve around fairies, princesses, and bargaining to watch more movies. After a while, it gets a little predictable. We'll just pretend that there is no arguing. No, never. Not with a strong willed almost 4 year old.

Anyway, just thought I'd drop in to say we're still kickin' it here at the homestead. Hope y'all had a good holiday season and are settling in for the long haul of winter. Here's a little dose of cute from me to you, and I'll hopefully drop in again very soon. Until later...

Baby V...

Baby Von finally decided to make an appearance May 23 @ 5:27 pm. Well, decided is probably too optimistic a word. Let's just say stubbornness is a strong quality in my babies, as is largeness, with both of them being 10 lbs. and a little bit. They also don't seem terribly concerned with punctuality. So despite plans to the contrary (what's that saying about making plans?) little V was also delivered by c-section this past Wednesday evening. We're home now, which is fantastic, both doing well all things considered and doesn't he look smashing in his hand spun/hand knit sweater! And it fits!! With a little bit of room to grow. Perfect for warm spring and summer walks.

I'm deeply smitten with the new man in my life and we're all just a bunch of bugs in rugs here, all cozied up and getting readjusted to the new family order. So far, so great. Big sister A is rockin' her new role and Dad is fortunate enough to be able to take some parental leave to help us all out. I have a feeling this is going to be an awesome summer.

With this pregnancy behind me, I feel the zest for former loves returning, if ever so slowly as recovery is my first priority. Eating, cooking, knitting, crafting...I have psychic space for it all again, though time and energy is a completely different story!! We shall see. One thing at a time. For now, I'm just tickled pink...no wait, blue...that his little sweater suits him so well.

Hope to be around a little more often. Fingers crossed.

Until later...

Holding pattern...

Sheesh, February...where does the time go?

So here we are, nearing the end of this particular journey known as my second pregnancy and I'm in that all too familiar holding pattern. I'm hoping this one doesn't last as long as it did with my first, who was a full two weeks overdue. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that I can avoid another c-section. But it's all wait and see on both fronts. I'm healthy, my little ride along is healthy and for now we wait.

Here's what I've been able to accomplish over these past nine months;

I knit the little gaffer a baby blanket, details on Ravelry (I'm Marti there too, the Nova Scotia one). The pattern is a Hudson's Bay blanket inspired theme. It captured my imagination and seemed perfectly suited to a mushy pregnancy brain, as it was all garter stitch. I used Berocco Vintage yarn, which is 50% acrylic, although you'd never know it. It's so soft and squishy. It made a beautiful blanket, if I do say so myself. And a nice sized one at that. Something to grow with him.

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to, but I did manage to get a quilt made as well. Once I stopped over thinking the process and just decided to cut and sew, it came together in a weekend. I had been collecting fat quarters in the hopes of one day making myself an all blue quilt. No time like the present I suppose! I'm quite pleased with it. I even learned to do mitred corners...properly. I machine quilted it, just stitch in the ditch, and voila, a nice little baby quilt as well. I wanted to make sure that whatever I did for his big sister, I also finished for him. So done and done. Almost.

Remember all that talk of hand spun yarn? Well, I did manage to get it all finished (with another skein of white in there as well) and knit up into a little garter stitch cardi. I've been very big on garter stitch this pregnancy! The sweater is mostly improvised, and in truth, quite small. When I knit the one for my daughter, it was as tiny and delicate and dainty as possible, and she couldn't have been more the opposite when she was born (yet she is now...just a little might of a thing)! She was my little Easter ham weighing in at 10 lbs 2 oz and the sweater, which was only worn on the ride home from the hospital, looked like it was stretched over the shoulders of a linebacker. I'm not anticipating that our new arrival will be significantly smaller, but I do hope the sweater fits well enough for perhaps one other outing, other than just the ride home in the van. In any case, the real accomplishment is that I spun and knit it myself, of which I am quite proud. A meaningful keepsake for me at least.

As is this. I decided, after much hemming and hawing, to do a maternity photo shoot this time around. While I'm simply in love with every photo that the photographer took, this might be my absolute favourite. It just really means a lot to me.

In other significant events, someone around here turned 3 at the end of March.

The time has gone so fast it literally takes my breath away. I swear it was only yesterday that I was sitting here, waiting for her to make her appearance into my life. And now I can scarcely remember a time when she wasn't part of it. She is going to make one heck of a big sister. She's been such an amazing kid this entire pregnancy, even the days when all I seem to have been able to do is apologize for being slow, tired, cranky and just generally not a lot of fun to be around. It's been amazing to share this experience with her, to listen to her talk about and to the baby, to hear her make sense of it all in her own way. Of course, it's still very much an abstract concept. Mom has a big belly (and butt...she brought that up the other day...thanks for that kiddo ;), she's going to our friends house when the baby is born (totally pumped about that) and while we haven't discussed the topic as to how in any way shape or form, she's fairly certain that the baby is going rip my clothes when he's born, presumably popping straight out of my belly (which, in the case of a repeat c-section if it happens, really isn't far off the mark). I'm fine with just leaving it at that for now ;) She's funny, unbelievably smart, and kind. I tell her she's a triple threat. The world had better watch out when she hits the streets someday. This girl is going to knock your socks off!

So that's about it. I'm just trying to fill my days with things that keep my mind off of my two most prevalent thoughts, which are I HURT EVERYWHERE and GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT. I'm knitting socks...takes the edge off a bit! But my absolute favourite past time is sleeping. Sleep at night seems to be already precious and elusive, so I sneak a snooze whenever I can, especially on days when miss A still conks out for a good chunk of time. Thankfully I've done a great job of making her as lazy as I am, so even if she can curl up with a video while I get a few dozy z's, she's quite content. As I said, great kid. I owe her for that. I'll try to remember these things when she's a teenager, maybe cut her some slack one day.

Now that the topic of sleep as been brought up, it's starting to sound like a better idea all the time. I was going to attempt to sew, but that just seems foolish when there is a perfectly comfortable bed calling my name. Hey, I'm nearly 38 weeks pregnant. I'll take any nap I can get ;)

We'll see what transpires in the next few weeks. I'll be sure to introduce our little guy once he arrives.

Until later...

700 yrds. of soft pink handspun...

...and we're having a boy!

Gotta get workin' on that blue fibre.

Pictures soon.

Until later...